


Fire and Furr

by ok_but_first_tea



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Origin Story, Wonderland, also surprise amnesty!, body possesion, crossover?, im very sorry, pamfield, remy (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 19:41:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14385765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ok_but_first_tea/pseuds/ok_but_first_tea
Summary: Garfield made a deal, and with that, he became himself.--A Garfield the Deals Warlock Origin Story





	Fire and Furr

**Author's Note:**

> It's a garfield origin story.   
> I wanted to post it yesterday on 4/20 but i guess im just posting it now.   
> Final Pam comes from the Monster Factory fall out 4 series, which you should def watch if you haven't already!! Also if you already have!! It's very good.

It was endless. It was beautiful. Wonderful, honestly. 

Garry stepped forward, eying the long, long rows of flowers. The smell was a tad bit overwhelming, but not necessarily  _ bad _ . 

People always thought Garry was a bit overwhelming himself. But he didn’t let it bother him. 

“Garfield Adventurezone Arbuckle.” His mother would often say. “Stop scaring people into those stupid bets!” she would often follow it up with. 

Garry’s heart had lived in a comfortable, monochrome grey for a long time now. He’d stopped making deals and bets for a while, but his heart just longed for them in a way he couldn’t explain. 

He lived for the rush of a satisfying deal. He believed that stuff was only valuable in hands that could use it, so to make stuff more valuable just by finding the right hands? Well, that was entirely Garry’s expertise. Though, he promised he wouldn’t. Not anymore. Not after the disaster of the City of Moss. He could still hear the screams of terror and feel the warm glow of the fire, from that particular mistake.

He ached to bring that rush back into his life, but seeing a city destroyed at his hands- seeing all that loss and terror only because he thought the weapons were more powerful at the hands of those who had the power to amplify it, it was enough to make him never want to make a deal again. And his heart felt empty for it. 

Still, despite his hearts protest to feelings, the vivid red colors combined with the smell of the flowers made something almost akin to color swirl up inside of him. 

He continued to walk down the isles. There didn’t seem to be an end to them, he might as well have been walking for years. He couldn’t exactly remember there being a beginning either.

Garry walked on, and slowly the flowers started to shift. Garry had seen changes like it before. From stone to wood, from wood to flowers, from flowers to this soft, soft hanging fabrics. It never ended.

Small tree roots started mixing in with the flowers. They started growing bigger, more solid. 

Garry watched, fascinated, as the roots squirmed and squeezed their way through the path as he walked further. The path meanwhile swaying and twisting, not unlike the pattern of the roots.

He followed the path. He didn’t know where he was, but then again, he’d felt lost wherever he went. Whether he knew where he was or not. 

The roots had now taken over entirely, only a stray sweep of bright red visible between them.

Garry kept walking.

He wandered the path of which he was sure had to be magical in nature. There was no way it wasn’t. It had too many weird twists and turns not to cross itself eventually.

At some point, big drops of water slid down the now trunks of tree.

Just like before with the trees, the water quantified and small pools started forming at the floor. 

Garry reminded himself to watch out not to slip.

If it continues like this, he thought, I might as well turn back around. He had no interest in swimming. Not while barefoot, in his suit. 

Which was a whole other can of worms he didn’t even want to open. Any time Garry tried to think about it, his thoughts would fall back into this soft blanket. He’d have to struggle to get his mind back online, and with no new information. 

So he kept walking. He kept pointedly not thinking. 

Of course, he’d considered turning back. Even in his fogged mind, the possibility was very obviously there. 

If he was being honest with himself, he was scared. He didn’t know why he was there or what he was walking away from, and that scared him. But he didn’t like being honest with himself. So he told himself he was on this path for a reason and he’d been walking for... for-... He shook his head to shake the broken chain of thought from his mind.

Garfield was on this path, so he might as well continue now. 

And so he did.

Everytime he wondered how far it was, or thought about how his feet were starting to ache, the scenery changed. The water stopped after a while, the walls changing back into flowers, and then curtains, and big rocks. 

Eventually though, it stopped. 

He stood for a moment, at the end of the sort-of, very long hallway. It stopped very abruptly, the rocky walls closing off like a cave. 

COME IN

Garry felt rather than heard. He looked to his sides, searching for the source of the voice, and found a doorway. 

It was just there. Bright light even shining out of it. Garfield didn’t know how he’d missed it. 

He headed inside. 

 

He’d expected it to be bright. The room Garry stepped into wasn’t anything as blinding as the light had suggested it would be. Actually it was kind of dark. Dim. 

Something shifted in the corner of his eyes, but as he turned to face it, nothing was there. 

HELLOOO they said, their voice drawn out. It shook Garry to his very core. 

Their voice was strange in a way Garry couldn’t describe. Unsettling. It made made the hair on his arms stand up. 

“Uhm, hi.” He answered. 

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED they asked, their voice resonating in Garry’s bones, IN MAKING A DEAL

It took Garry a moment to process, but in front of him, one giant eye opened. He shivered as the thing seemed to look straight into his very being. The eye was too large to see all at once, especially so close up, but Garry understood now, with dread turning in his gut, why he couldn’t see them before. 

Rather than being nowhere in sight like Garry had thought, they were  _ everywhere _ . Their dark- what was it?  _ Fur? _ It surrounded him. 

He felt fear settle inside his lungs, sprouting like weeds through his veins, but he didn’t let his face show it. 

If this being truly wanted a deal, then this was, for all means and purposes a business meeting. And those he could do.

AFTER ALL, YOU HAVE COME ALL THIS WAY

Garry morphed his face into a smile, one his friends and enemies alike had come to fear, and settled into his body. His stance relaxed and but controlled.    
“What can I do for you?” He asked. 

The being smiled with many, many teeth. He could only see a few at a time because of it’s size. Garry smiled back. He got the impression that his smile pleased the being.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A WARLOCK?

 

\--

 

Garry dusted off his cloak as he stood. The ashes of what used to be a cheap replica of a powerful artifact were still smoking in front of him.

He raised his eyebrows, staring at the now terrified boy in front of him.

“I- it was just a joke, i- i didn’t- I wouldn’t-..” The boy trailed off, his lip quivering and his hands shaking. He looked frantically around the shop for an out, but he couldn’t find anything. 

Garfield, as he called himself with his full name now, started laughing at the “joke”. First just his mouth but slowly pulling his entire body in. 

“Don’t worry, boy.” He said around his smile. Despite his reassurance, the boy still looked very worried. “Running wouldn’t help if I really wanted to harm you.” 

The boy gulped. 

He was about to propose a deal. Maybe a few memories in lieu of the promised gold.

Instead, Garfield stood frozen, his tall, pale body looking like a statue. He felt prickle at the back of his neck and looked the boy in the eye.

“Go.” He spoke. The boy didn’t need to be told twice. 

The boy wasn’t even gone yet before Garfield’s world was plunged into darkness. The quietly shifting of the Beast, as he came to call them, still unnerving him after all these years. 

YOU’VE DONE VERY WELL _.  _

Garfield felt a spike of fear at the words. In all these years, he’d never gotten a word of praise. Not without a greater reason. 

“How can I help you, today?” Garfield asked. 

MY TIME HAS RUN OUT _. _

Garfield paused, trying to wrap his head around that, and failed. Or actually, he knew axactly what they meant, but he had never been good at being honest with himself.

“How do you mean?” He asked, hoping for an explanation differing from his suspicion.

WHEN I LEAVE, MY POWER LEAVES WITH ME _. _

And well, that pretty much confirmed it. 

It would mean the end of Garfield. Bye bye, to Garfield the Deals Warlock. He’d never gotten a name from the Beast, not even a direction. He’d always been very free in his ways. But he knew that with the condition of his body, he would be dead not even seconds after the Beasts power slipped from him. 

Garfield stood in thought and tried to breathe. He knew that, in this space, wherever this space was, time worked weird. But he also knew that, for whatever reason, the Beast’s time was running out. 

“I’m sorry.” He said. He figured that even if they were ageless and, for all Garfield knew, omnipotent, they were also a being just like any other. Consolation in these last moment might just be what a newly mortal needed.

DON’T GRIEF, IT HAS NO PURPOSE. I AM NEARLY PURE POWER AND MY SPIRIT HAS NEVER BEEN THIS WEAK. 

“I wasn’t expecting your… departure, so soon. Any predictions to what will happen?” 

Conversation seemed out of place at this moment, but a casual business talk was the only real form of socializing Garfield knew. 

_ I WILL OFFER YOU A GIFT _

“a gift?” he asked. What could a soon to be dead man do with a gift? he wondered.

MY FORM MIGHT BE LEAVING, BUT MY POWER DOES NOT HAVE TO GO. TAKE IT, AND LET MY LEGEND LIVE ON. 

DO YOU ACCEPT?

It sure was an interesting offer. But  Garfield knew too good to be true offers were often just that. 

“What’s the catch?” He asked. 

No answer came, but he felt the power around him weakening. It went very fast. The beast was dying and he stood there while it’s offered power rapidly diminished. 

Quick action was often underrated in dealmanship.

“I- I accept.” he finally stuttered. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. When the words left his mouth, he felt a wave of energy pass over him. He felt it tingle in his skull and rush down his spine to his fingertips. 

He felt the energy wash over him, and he felt something snap. Something in his being broke, and then from the pieces it left, he felt something new grow. 

Something stronger.

Something  _ better _ .   
When Garfield finally catched his breath, the beast was gone. He could feel it. Ever since Garfield had wandered into those abandoned caves, he’d felt the presence of the beast linger. He’d lost most of his memories, but gained so much more. Now though, the fog the beast had put in his brain cleared up. His new found power sifting through his mind like a breath of fresh air. He didn’t recover his old memories, but he did find a piece of sharpness, a bit of witt. 

Garfield smiled. He would not mourn for the beast that caged him. He would not weep for the weak spirit that somehow found control of power and let it eat him. The beast that used to only dwell in caves detached from the mortal coil. 

Garfield clenched and spread his fingers. He felt the raw energy passing through them. He knew it was only a fraction of the power of the beast. Much had been lost while the beast died, but even more had been lost in transfer. Still, it was a lot of power for a once ordinary, mortal businessman. But ordinary no more. Mortal? He wasn’t sure about it. Though he knew he wouldn’t die any time soon. It wasn’t.. A relief. Not more than it was a simple fact. 

Garfield frowned. The tingling of his power was louder than any emotions he may or may not feel. Though still, he felt gleeful. 

Giddy. 

He laughed. His shop he settled back into, the Cosco, echoed his laugh back at him, in a loop of increasingly manic laughter. 

The next morning he packs up the shop. The world has so much power, so much potential. 

He’s his own boss now. 

He’s Garfield the Deals Warlock.

 

\--

 

Garfield felt-.. Or actually, Garfield did not  _ feel _ . He simply was.

Garfield was tired. This shaky, pale body was getting boring. After so many years, so many centuries, he was bored. 

Once, he had been proud of his pale skin, and of his tall form. Now he wasn’t even considered tall anymore. Most people that met him considered him sick. Weak, even. 

While sick might hold a smidge of truth, no one who’d seen as much as him could truly say they were “healthy”, he was by no standard weak. 

His power was ancient. Older than the gods that shaped this world. Nine years older, to be exact. 

The age of his strength didn’t bother him, though his body? His body stayed seemingly the same age, powered by his spirit, but it could definitely use an upgrade. 

 

“So I get the medicine?” the girl asked. She couldn’t be older than 30. Her long, brown hair cascading down her back. Still human, Garfield didn’t want the change to be too much, though if this went well, he might change more dramatically next time. 

“You can get the medicine for your sister, yes yes.” Garfield said, impatient now. 

“and in exchange..”

“and in exchange i get control over your body. your soul will be transported to my current vessel. Now will you take the deal or not?” Garfield tapped his foot on the floor. It echoed.

She hesitated but then sighed. She looked defeated. 

“I’ll do it.” She said. “I need my sister to be okay.”

“Wonderful, darling!” Garfield yelled, clapping his hands together, “Absolutely delightful!"

He smiled. 

She looked unsettled, but that was okay. He smiled wider, though his small mouth had trouble with it. 

“Just drop the blood in the potion and drink a bit, and then i drink another bit, and then poof!” He gestured with his hard through the air, “We’ll both be a deal richer!”

He knew accent was jarring to her. His accent used to be considered fancy. People heard him and they thought “oh! A well-spoken man, maybe even a doctor”. Now he kept stumbling over his words, over these strange new sounds that kept popping up in languages. Sure, language was changing, but he didn’t have to be happy about it. Especially not now people just looked at his weird, unnerved at his weird pronunciation and inflection. 

Garfield figured that, in time, he’d cease to care about this too, and another thing would pop up. He hoped that, in a new body, it might be a little easier getting the words out. 

The ritual was completed quickly and cleanly. 

Garfield felt his soul settle into this new body, a breath of fresh air now his power didn’t need to constantly have to worry about keeping his form together. It was something he only realised he’d done after he entered a new body, where he didn’t necessarily have to anymore. 

He smiled, wide. The mouth was moving so fluidly across his cheeks, Garfield couldn’t help but wonder how far they could go. 

He turned back to the girl, in his, now her, body. He was just in time to see her panicked expression as she fell to dust. 

“Oh.” he said, “oh, I-” 

He laughed. “I guess that would be a side effect! Fascinating!” Garfield heard his voice, and to his disappointment, the sounds didn’t come a lot easier. His weird accent was still securely in place, though now in place in a totally new body. 

He was going to have fun with that, he thought. So much fun!

He was already walking away, thinking of what kind of tattoos he could do, when he suddenly turned around.    
“Of course!” he said, gathering his bag, and taking out a bottle of unmarked medicine he’d promised to the girl. “A deal is a deal!” And he lay the bottle in the middle of the little hope of dust. 

“Goodbye!” He’d already forgotten the girl’s name, but that wasn’t important anymore anyway. She wasn’t here anymore. And he was. 

Garfield. The Deals Warlock. Always on his own.

 

\--

 

Pam came into his life quite unexpectedly. 

He’d been sitting in a bar, when she arrived. He’d been waiting on some dealer of antique’s, but that was quickly forgotten when she walked in. He could feel her other worldly power drifting off of her. 

“Hey ober! Get me a drink.” She said, a heavy accent on her tongue, one that Garfield can’t fully place. 

He watched, his eyes trapped looking at her movements, as the strange woman took a sip of the drink and then spat it out over the bar.

“You call this drink?!” she said. “I’ll show you drink!” and with that she walked out. 

Garfield was fascinated. He couldn’t stop his feet from following her. Just as he’d stepped outside, the bar behind him exploded.

Later, he’d look back on that evening and realize how lucky he’d been. But at that moment, standing outside, still getting used to the senses on his new dragonborn body, his mind was blank. 

He looked over at the woman. The woman who barely ever blinked at the explosion. Garfield felt a smile spread over his face. 

“Why hello, hellooo!” he said. She didn’t look over. He eyes transfixed on the fire. The explosion she somehow made, but Garfield hadn’t figured out  _ how _ yet. She had to be a brilliant wizard.

She spoke.

“You are not from here.” She said. Garfield tried to raise his eyebrows but then remembered he had none in this new form.

“Very well seen.” He said, and then added almost as afterthought, “I’m Garfield.”

She still wasn’t looking at it, but she smiled at the fire. Pleased, maybe? Smug?

“Pam.” she said. “Final Pam.”

She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. 

 

\--

 

“You’re beautiful, Pam” Garfield told her one morning. They’d been walking from one town to another, Pam occasionally pulling him under her arms and jumping so high he could touch the clouds. But right now they were just walking, enjoying each other’s presence not muddied by crowded villages. They watched the clouds go by. 

“You don’t know beautiful.” Pam said.

“Hmm, true. But you are still beautiful.” 

She smiled. “Yes.” she said. “I am.” 

“Do you see that building over there?” Pam asked, her finger pointing. Garfield just spotted it when Pam deadpanned, “Boom.”

The church went up in flames, and Pam laughed.

Garfield smiled, but his eyes were on Pam, not the fire.

If he was a normal mortal, he might have dismissed it. If he didn’t spent so much time into finding out more about Pam, about reading her face like a book, he might have dismissed it. But he knew her, and he had. He saw the way her eyes turned ever so slightly misty. He saw the way her smiled turned ever so slightly sad. 

He stopped walking, and motioned for her to do the same.

“What’s wrong, my angel?” He asked.

“Hmm,” she grunted, “It’s nothing.”

“Tell me anyway.” Garfield said, his body positioned toward her, his eyes shining with curious hunger.

“Let me show you my world.” She said. And in a blink, the grass under the church was gone. He looked further, and the riverbank Pam had carried him over was blocky, like it was drawn on graphing paper. 

“Your world looks different from mine.” Pam said, while Garfield looked around with wide eyes. He had never seen anything like this before. 

“That sure is a view!” he said. As soon as it came, the view left, and he was back at looking at what he considered his normal view. The grass was back, as were the squiggly borders as opposed to the blocky ones. 

“I can teach you. Maybe not all. But some.” She said.

He nodded eagerly. “I’d sure like that.” He said.

And with that, they walked on. 

 

\--

 

They were sitting on a bench, late at night, or maybe early in the morning. 

Time didn’t matter. Not to Garfield. Not to Pam. 

The stars were beautiful, but neither were really looking. They watched the air silently, both absorbing their thoughts at peace. 

“Garry,” Pam said, it was an old nickname. No one called him that anymore, and the memories of those who did were long gone. If not taken by the beast, then diminished over time. “The people here are weak. Just like you. You’re all ants.” She said.

He nodded. He knew it to be true. It had to be, if not from his perspective then definitely from hers. 

“Pam,” Garfield said. He looked at her, but she didn’t look back. Truly, they didn’t need words. They didn’t need looks. They both knew this could never last. He was powerful, but not powerful enough to  _ be _ enough for her. He knew, Pam could never be caged like that. She as freedom itself. Free from rules and law. Free from nature’s jurisdiction.

“You’re not from here, Garfield.” she said, “Like me, you’re from somewhere else.”

Pam turned to face him and he could see the quiet fury behind her eyes. 

“I am looking for the man who made us. Not tiny like a god, but a creator. He made you somewhere else and then put you here. He cursed me and then left me. He never returned after he was done with my story.”

She turned back to watch the moon.

Garfield didn’t understand, but he smiled anyway. “I know how you feel!” He said.

“This world is sick, Garfield.” She said. Soon, the creator will start a story here, and I cannot be here for that.”

She chuckles once, loud and rough. 

“Garry, your story has not started yet.” She said. “But when you are done. Well. I want you to know you are welcome. At my home, with my sons and husbands. You have a place there, Garfield.”

Garfield knew she missed her husbands very much. Her metal husband mostly, not her useless flesh husband. 

“That’s very kind of you.” He said. He wasn’t crying, but only because this form wasn’t capable of crying. 

Pam nodded once, grunting an affirmative. 

\--

 

It was a dark day for Garfield when Pam left. She’d taught him so much. She’d loved him and showed him how her world worked. She showed him how she bended the rules of nature. In return he could only offer the remains of his heart, and stand by in wonder as he looked at her. 

After her departure, his vessel felt empty. He’d offered to come with her, but she said he’d have to wait until the story here was done, just in case. 

And so he’d said goodbye, and with her the last few pieces of his heart went. 

He didn’t feel sad. Though, he supposed he was a bit more, how would you say?  _ manic _ , than before that. He felt in for a fight, and he knew just the place to look for one. 

 

\--

 

Wonderland. 

Where are your dreams come true. 

Garfield looked at the slogan with a certain type of disgust on his face. 

That was  _ his _ quote. It had been in  _ his _ jingle for centuries. It transcended the language the spoke and Garfield had made sure the phrase transformed with it. 

Garfield was ready to fight and these little liches were the perfect punching bag in his battle of wits. He wouldn’t follow their rules, but rather make his rules so similar to theirs that they couldn’t say he’d been breaking them. They’d play different games without them ever knowing. And Garfield would win. 

He’d chosen a new form, a strong one. He had found a machine which could replicate bodies before. Empty vessels, but for Garfield them not having a soul was only a plus. Only, this one wasn’t from that machine. He’d sold the machine to some lich at an auction, he knew he’d get it back in time. Everything of value got its way into Garfield hands one time or another. 

But no, this body wasn’t something he’d grown. He’d saw it walk by and thought “Yes. Purrfect for me”. The furr reminded him vaguely of the beast, and his mouth was wide enough for his grin to stretch out the way he liked.    
His original body never had the chance to stretch it out so wide, and Garfield took every opportunity he could to do so. 

He walked into the “building” with his head held high. Thick walls, made to look like a structure instead of what it actually was.

Magic, they called it now. Garfield knew it was nothing but unresptaint energy shaped into objects.

Garfield kept his head up  as he walked in. He felt the dark energy around him shape into a cat walk. He stepped on before the arcana powers from the liches could arrive. He grinned. 

Show time. 

 

When Garfield exited Wonderland, he was only a few teeth poorer. And not because he lost them, but he needed them for some spell component. He could have made them but he liked the look on the faces of the people in Wonderland when he pulled them out. 

Eventually, he was left out. He was actually made a  _ punishment _ for another player. Garfield couldn’t contain his glee. The liches might still be around but they’re a whole less secure in their power. At least they’ll know of his presence if they ever decide to, how would you say? Disrupt, him or his business.    
Not that there was a whole lot of difference between him and his business, these days. Not since Pam. 

The punishment his new subject got was to simply be stuck with him. Garfield had refused to leave until they made a deal with him, and of course they weren’t smart enough for Garfield The Deals Warlock, but they tried. He accepted them letting him make a deal with one of their players. The deal being the punishment for said player. A woman, much older than she looked, she also looked older than she was. Garfield got very conflicting readings on that, so he decided to let them be. 

The deal he struck wasn’t a deal to be cashed in on immediately. It was a deal, to make a deal. He was promised a favor, nothing to bad, to the liches their disappointment. Just a place, or a time, maybe an object. 

But for the time being, the woman looked way to worn out. She had given everything of value on her, and therefore she had no value to him. Not like that, not at that moment. 

So he left. Garfield had no time to deal with her and so, he left. A smile on his face and a friendly wave before vanishing into smoke. 

An ominous “See you soon!” on his lips.

 

\--

 

Though Garfield wouldn’t say it, not outright, he knew his power was very finite. 

It was only a smidge of that of the beast. Maybe that was good. It allowed him to keep at least the pretence of his sanity, but it also drove him wild. He’d be lying if he claimed to be the same man he used to be. He’d be lying if he said he was that man at all- at any level other than the most technical.

If he had gotten any more of the power, well. He didn’t know how he’d cope with that. 

Garfield roamed. While he wasn’t setting up shop anywhere, he roamed. He heard stories of these powerful items, one in particular that piqued his interest. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, they called it. And he did always love a good fire.

But something stopped him. Something in his heart, something old and dusty pulled at him to stop. Old echoes of screams. People he’d known then, but didn’t remember now. So he let it go. 

He wouldn’t look for them. If they were anything interesting he figured he’d find one eventually. 

The wars around were especially not great for business. Not good for business at all. Not with the way people were running around screaming without any sense of direction. The world lay in chaos. 

And then one day it stopped. One day, Garfield put his business up, and it was quiet. Adventurers were suddenly returning home, or to those without homes or reason to go back, they adventured. Dozens of people were looking for jobs, entire organizations fell apart just because nobody could remember their purpose. 

It was chaos all over again, but this time no one seemed to notice. Garfield asked some questions here and there, but the response was confusing at best. 

A few nights later he finally got his first clue. 

A new moon. 

Not a full moon. 

A new one. Entirely. A second one, up in the sky like it belonged there. Like it had always been there.

Pam had taught him how to strip away the fancy things, the unnecessary layers, and he could see through the walls(of a sort) that this was not just an extra moon put in the sky.

This was an organization. 

How  _ exciting _ . Garfield thought. 

He did some fruitless research, and eventually decided to just take a look. All that looking around without answers wasn’t doing him any good. 

So he poofed up, and surprise surprise, who did he see?

It’s the woman! From wonderland! 

The weight she carried on her shoulders looked heavier, but she had a purpose in her stride that hadn’t been there before. 

Garfield waited until she went to sleep, something that took longer the more bottles of wine she opened. He waited until it was silent in the moon. 

He walked through the domes, a lot of them were still in construction, and chose a spot. He saw a cool spaceship on the way there, and noted the incredibly advanced technology. Technology he hadn’t seen before. Technology that for all logic insists should not be in this world yet. 

Garfield finally settled in a spot. It was a nice spot. His rectangular shop would fit well there, though he’d really had to look for one since the entire moon seemed to be dome-shaped. 

 

Seeing the expression on the woman’s face was priceless. 

“Hi!” Garfield had said when she stormed in his now completely set up shop in the morning.   
“What is the meaning of th-” she spoke but he continued like she hadn’t said anything at all.

“The Deals Warlock!” his grin widened at her dawning expression. “I see you remember me.”

“I thought- I thought you were an hallucination.” she mumbled. Garfield had the impression that he wasn’t supposed to hear that. 

“Nope!” He said, smiling even wider. He usually got a new body every few years but he just adored how wide this one could smile. “Lucky you!”

The woman pinched her brow, sighed, and then looked up.

“What do you want?” she asked. She sounded reluctant to even ask it.

“I want this spot.” 

She looked almost confused, “What do you mean, this spot? Is that all you want?”

“Yeah!” Garfield beamed, “You set up a pretty nice place, and if i can just say so, I want in.” He winked at her, which she didn’t really respond to. He was disappointed.

She hesitated in answering.

“Listen, just between me and you,” He said, “You have an interesting..  _ thing _ , going on here, and I want to see what happens, if you know what i mean.”

“And no other motifs?” she asked.

“I’m just bored.”

His honesty seemed to surprise her, but she quickly recovered.

“Alright, then i guess this is our deal?”

“Wonderful!” he clapped his hands and she startled. 

He saw her walk out, the long blue skirt of her dress dancing behind her. When he heard the doors close, he sighed. 

Garfield took a moment to settle his heart. This was the place he’d stay for now. Until his story, or the story of this world ended, whatever Pam had meant by that. Whatever she’d meant, he had a feeling this place had something to do with it. 

 

\--

 

The next few years were almost uneventful. Living on the moon brought all kinds of interesting complications and features to his shop, but nothing that really grabbed his interest.

Until the boys showed up. Three of them. 

And one of them, the fighter, with a body he definitely wouldn’t mind owning himself.

he straightened up and smiled his most customer friendly smile.

“hello! I’m Garfield! The deals warlock!” He greeted them. 

He noticed their reactions, and their voices. The voices were just a little different than the rest of the world, they were special. almost as different as Brad from PR. Garfield had spent a wild monday researching him, but he was way to boring to be anything real. 

These boys though…

He could see their stances and their energies. He could feel them being just ever so slightly off from the rest. 

Garfield probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for Pam having told him to be alert. To watch for the story of this world- of this reality. 

He understood now what she meant. And he loved it. He watched closely as he praised his lover in his head.

Oh Pam, he though. You clever, clever woman.

 

—

  
  


He tricked him. 

Taako. Garfield. 

He’d tricked him!

On one hand he was rather proud. The boy had taken items and quantified their value so much, and Garfield hadn’t even seen it coming. 

On the other hand, how could he ever face Pam after this defeat?

He had no doubt in his mind that these boys were the result of the creators, the one Pam talked about. She’s always spoken of them with so much venom in her voice. So much fire behind her eyes, fire she’d gladly make them burn with. 

And he’d been tricked by them. 

Deep in his heart, he knew she’d forgive him. She’d maybe laugh and her eyes would dance in that adorable way that lit a fire inside him. But he couldn’t help but feel bad.

Not only about being tricked, but also because he wasn’t expecting to be tricked. He was Garfield! The Deals Warlock! People didn’t just trick him.

He should have known that he could have never outsmarted something that could have almost controlled Pam.

Foolish.

Still, he sat and waited. He knew this wasn’t the end of the story and he knew he’d have to sit it out until it was over. 

He counted the days, though he didn’t know what number of days he counted to. 

Finally, the day arrived. the day of story and song. 

He’d felt something coming a long way, and he had already prepared a body for his escape. but then he realized his mistake. It was too late to grow a new, different one before shit would go down. but the body he’d chosen to grow was from one of the Creators darlings. He would never get away with that.

Defeated, again, Garfield packed up his stuff. He heard the story and the song. He felt it in his bones that this was the final step. The world would either be saved or destroyed, and he wasn’t needed in this story anymore.

He was almost done when he got called into the middle of a fight. He remembered saying something about free samples and hoping the fuck back out of there. He hoped that was the end. He furiously hoped that was the end of the story, and if not, than that would be too bad, but Garfield wouldn’t be there for it. 

 

\--

 

Garfield was on a mission. 

A mission of his heart he was following. He didn’t need this world- this reality. All he needed was the woman who’d showed him how to be more. 

He didn’t know where she was, but he knew where she was going. 

It was easy for him, too. To traverse outside of the confinements this creator had put on them, to be free. Like Pam had said, he might have been born there, but he was created somewhere else. He’d already broken those boundaries before, and he’d do it again. 

And again.

And again, until he’d find her. 

He looked and followed the voices. He followed the beginnings of worlds, of unshapen stories. 

Garfield was careful to keep his form ever changing. They would never catch him like that. He wasn’t even a deals warlock anymore. 

He didn’t need to be. 

He had a new goal; To find her.

Garfield saw many worlds he thought were the one, but none of them ever kept their focus. Now he’d seen some, he knew what to look for. 

It wasn’t describable in words, but he knew in his gut. 

He saw a world with super heroes, he saw an athlete boy flop on television. He looked so embarrassed. 

These creators- these people who did this, who designed them to do this- The people who designed these worlds to hurt. Garfield would find them.

He felt a growing hatred toward them. He knew how Pam felt now and he could only love her more for showing him the truth of this universe.

Eventually he settled. A place in West Virginia. The rules of magic were different everywhere he went, but Garfield was not confined to the boundaries of a single world. He felt the power within him humm comfortingly and steadily. He used it to get a shop somewhere, to wait. 

Garfield did a lot of waiting these days. 

He had to wait a while, but eventually, one day, he heard it. Or he felt it- he knew instinctively that Yes. and Here.

He put on his most friendly smile and waved at the woman coming in. Her voice was nothing special, it didn’t ring his finely tuned Creator Bell, but still. He was sure that here was his key to a place in the story.

“Hello and welcome!” he said, “I’m Garfield! The landlord! Can I interest you in a venue?”

The woman smiled if not  bit uncomfortable, and no this person was just as much a drone, a play piece, of the creators. But he was close.

He’d find them, and when he did, he could finally go home.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> It took a bit of a weird turn with Pam and maybe I should have made some notes on the direction i wanted this to take.   
> also, if you've read this all to the end, Thank you!!!! For reading all of this, I'm very impressed and honestly, im not really expecting anyone to read this lmao  
> I hope you have a very nice day!!! <3<3


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